Mr Van Rompuy described the senior figures appointed to negotiate for the EU, who include Belgian ex-Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt and French finance expert Michel Barnier, as "very very tough" but also "very pragmatic".

He denied leaders wanted to "punish" the UK for leaving, but said there was a desire not to encourage other countries to follow suit.

"Any negotiation will be a difficult negotiation, independent of the personalities. Of course we want an agreement which represents some kind of mutual benefit.

"There are huge economic interests, but there are also red lines. It is very well known that freedom of movement [of EU nationals] is a red line," he said.

'Not many friends'

Mr Van Rompuy rejected suggestions that the EU should have given former Prime Minister David Cameron a better deal after he sought reform of the UK's relationship with the EU, saying the main reason for the Brexit vote "lies in Britain".

And he said EU leaders had warned former Prime Minister David Cameron it would be a "mistake" to hold a referendum on membership.

He said the UK already had a "very special status" within the EU, which was illustrated by it not being a member of the eurozone or the Schengen Agreement.

But this meant it was also "not fully a member of the hardcore where decisions are taken".

Image copyrightAFPImage caption
Guy Verhofstadt will be one of the EU's main Brexit negotiators

"Britain had not many friends anymore," Mr Van Rompuy said.

This had been shown during the election of Jean-Claude Juncker as President of the European Commission in 2014, when Britain was "isolated" in its opposition to him, he added.

Mr Van Rompuy said despite this, European leaders still viewed Brexit as a "political amputation of the first degree".

He added: "Because Europe was for many countries still a model, a model that you can achieve peace among peoples and states that waged wars for centuries, so it was a model of co-operation and integration.

"That image of a strong Europe, that is tarnished a lot after Brexit."